Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids is not a typical type of film I watch but it ended up being not what I expected. It was marketed as sort of a woman's answer to The Hangover (full disclosure: I have not seen The Hangover) but it didn't seem as raunchy as I was expecting. It was quite tame and dealt more with relationships and emotions.  The film was trying to be groundbreaking for woman's comedy but was still tethered to the idea of what women can and cannot do on film. They didn't push the envelop enough. It started out really really slow and dry and I was left wondering why it was such a big hit and the scene at the bridal shop happened. Finally I got some real laugh out loud funny moments.

Everything was going wrong for Kristen Wiig's character and at times it was a little hard to watch but I could identify with some of it. This was clearly the female version of loser male character we've been seeing recently in comedy and especially in Judd Apatow films. She wasn't perfect and I loved the juxtaposition of her against Helen. The focus on the loss of the childhood friend was core to the film but at times caused the film to feel more like a drama than a comedy. Her loss of job, her own place away from her mother and boyfriend all helped to create a character easy to relate to. There were too many times that the film relied on conventions of the romantic comedy to make a statement for something new. Not that I didn't like it but I guess I was hoping for a little more.

Although I'm not familiar with Kristen Wiig's work and familiar with just a little bit of Maya Rudolph's work it was a pleasure to see two British comedians I am familiar with. Matt Lucas I'm not a huge fan of and I found his scenes with Rebel Wilson were kind of tacked on. They could have found a better way to incorporate them or a better way to show Wiig's fall from disgrace. Chris O'Dowd on the other hand was amazing and it was so good to see him out of the IT Department. I can see him as a leading man and I hope he continues to pop up in other films.